99 busted in Houston prostitution sting

Houston Chronicle

Updated 2:43 pm, Wednesday, August 6, 2014

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Isiah Carden, 46, of Spring, an agricultural specialist for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, has been charged with a misdemeanor as part of a nation-wide sweep of prostitutes and their customers. (Harris County Sheriff's Office) less

Isiah Carden, 46, of Spring, an agricultural specialist for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, has been charged with a misdemeanor as part of a nation-wide sweep of prostitutes and their customers. (Harris ... more

99 busted in Houston prostitution sting

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Twenty-three alleged prostitutes and 76 of their alleged customers have been arrested in a three-week sex trafficking sweep by the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

The arrests occurred between July 17 and Aug. 3, as part of a national campaign called National Day of Johns Arrests. The initiative began in 2011.

"Prostitution is intertwined with sex slavery and illegal drugs as part of an insidious network of criminal enterprises," Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia said in a press release. "This is not the first time we have used undercover male and female deputies to disrupt these illegal operations, and it won't be the last. If you buy sex in Harris County, the price can also include jail time."

Among those accused is Isiah Carden, 46, fo Spring, an agricultural specialist for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Five of those arrested in Harris County were also handed drug-related charges, two were charged with criminal trespassing and another was charged with resisting arrest. Four suspects already had pending arrest warrants.